For example primer on kitchen cabinets meant 1 weeks worth of painting cabinet and $200 of paint and hardware. 

If the wood floors, bathrooms, kitchen, and hardware are redone, will leaving the windows decrease the value immensely?

You can paint the ceilings with Zinser Mildew-proof bath paint available at Ace Hardware....awesome product.If you buy a vacant home or foreclosure that has been closed up for more than a month...it's a great idea to wipe everything down with Microban which will kill mold on contact.  

I want to get designer looking finishes for great prices.Anyone recommend sources online that have great hardware or fixtures (like lighting) --basically things that can be shipped?

Stay away from the “guru” sales-pitch events - they rarely increase your investment knowledge, they merely empty your wallet!

I don't add hardware- granite counter tops - I try to find something in the mid-$40 per sq ft range.

will I be able to get the rental prices of comp properties or should I just do a simple update with laminate countertops,keep old tile flooring in bath and kitchen, vinyl plank flooring through rest of house, salvage and paint cabinets, update hardware?  

If you install hooks under the mantle or provide "stocking hangers" that sit on top of the mantle, you can reduce the likelihood of a tenant nailing or screwing their own hardware into your mantle.The key is to be aware of what is necessary to maintain a fireplace/chimney and to teach tenants how to use them safely and to monitor their use.

Stay away from the “guru” sales-pitch events - they rarely increase your investment knowledge, they merely empty your wallet!

If i took 1,300 x $10/sf I should expect to pay 13,000 to put in new carpets int he bedrooms, laminate in the living areas, paint the kitchen cabinets and put on new countertops, re-surface tub surrounds and new tile flooring in baths, replace hardware and light fixtures, and fresh paint on the walls.Now obviously that is a very wild guess.